(1) Field
The present invention relates generally to electrical control systems for use in the solar industry and, more particularly, to junction boxes that facilitate “plug and play” functionality of solar energy accessory modules.
(2) Related Art
The invention discussed herein can be used with connectors disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/502,395, pertaining to “Low Leakage Electrical Joints and Wire Harnesses, and Method of Making the Same”, that was filed on Jul. 14, 2009, and issued on Dec. 10, 2013 as U.S. Pat. No. 8,604,342 B2, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Due to technological advances, increased costs of non-renewable resources, and governmental incentives, solar energy can now be an economically advantageous endeavor. Accordingly, interest in solar energy has surged, and innovators are constantly developing new systems and components to optimize energy collection because variables such as inconsistent sunlight, breakage and malfunction outages in the solar field, and other fluctuations greatly affect the operating environment.
Considerable progress in optimization has been achieved by the development and refinement of various “accessory modules”. In short, accessory modules are electrical components added onto conventional junction boxes to perform functions such as lessening peaks and valleys in energy generation, Maximum Power Point Tracking (“MPPT”), and to allow for direct AC conversion, including that achieved by micro-inverters. To achieve this, one junction box is outfitted with one accessory module, so the solar panels associated with that specific junction box are mediated by that specific accessory module.
While employing accessory modules is definitely an improvement over not using accessory modules, the one-module-per-group-of-panels arrangement does not permit optimization of the individual panels. This is undesirable because individual panels in a group may exist in different microenvironments. For example, one panel might be partially shaded while another panel is not. Accordingly, the optimization of individual panels would be most beneficial.
Optimizing individual panels, however, has been impractical or undesirable up until now. Specifically, coupling a panel to an accessory module requires affixing and hard wiring them together. As a result, when a panel or accessory module is damaged, destroyed, or otherwise quits working properly, the panel and accessory module are more-or-less permanently stuck together, and the entire assembly must be replaced. Alternatively, extensive time and labor is expended to separate the good hardware from the bad. Moreover, if it is desirable to swap out one accessory module for another (for example due to seasonal sunlight changes) one must swap the entire panel. This makes the optimization of individual panels impractical.
In view of the aforementioned limitations, it is desirable to have a device that allows an individual solar panel to be easily, expeditiously and reversibly outfitted with an accessory module.
Thus, there remains a need for a new and improved solar panel junction box capable of integrating with a variety of accessory modules, and the method of using this junction box.